


So Blooms the Soul (As Flowers on the Skin)

by chibistarlyte



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Never Met, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Flower Crowns, Flowers, Fluff, Language of Flowers, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:35:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24906949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chibistarlyte/pseuds/chibistarlyte
Summary: “Uh…Haru?” Rin said hesitantly from behind him.“Hm?” Haruka hummed, turning around to regard his best friend, who was looking at him with an incredulous look on his face.“Your soul mark…” Rin said, slowly raising his hand and pointing at the blade of Haruka’s right shoulder. “Did you know it’s bloomed?”Blue eyes widened and the shock of the question was almost enough to knock Haruka into the pool.“Wh-what?”
Relationships: Matsuoka Rin & Nanase Haruka, Matsuoka Rin/Yamazaki Sousuke, Nanase Haruka/Tachibana Makoto
Comments: 8
Kudos: 132





	So Blooms the Soul (As Flowers on the Skin)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lonesomewriter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lonesomewriter/gifts).



> This fic got out of hand so quickly. I have no idea how it ended up this long. Holy shit.
> 
> I wrote this for Milo for the Nanase Haruka Birthday Exchange. Out of the list of possible prompts provided, I decided to give the flower shop one a try, with a soulmate twist! (Milo I'm so glad you included prompts because it really allowed me a good chance to think on some and get started pretty early on this project!) I don't know much about flowers or floral care, just what I've learned from my friends in the floral department at work and some quick Googling on hanakotoba, so please forgive me for any glaring inaccuracies. Also, I tried to write this fic in a way that could be read as either platonic or romantic. I had so much fun writing this, so I really hope you like it, Milo!
> 
> As always, thank you so much to my amazing friend Kat ([ @hobbitunderthemountain](https://hobbitunderthemountain.tumblr.com/)) for betaing this and just generally being a wonderful human.
> 
> Comments and kudos are always loved and appreciated. <3 Find me on tumblr [@chibistarlyte](https://chibistarlyte.tumblr.com/)!
> 
> Enjoy!

It was a quiet morning in Tokyo, still early enough to where not a single soul traversed down the street where the Swim Free Flower Shop resided. The sun slowly crept into the clear glass windows of the storefront, greeting the plants inside with its friendly, caring light. The plants, in turn, welcomed the sun in like an old friend, turning to face the windows and soaking up the rays.

Nanase Haruka loved mornings like this, when he could ready his shop for the day and bask in the peace before the city properly awoke. He breathed in the sweet, fragrant air of the shop as he watered the plants with his mackerel-shaped watering can—a joke gift he’d gotten from Nagisa that Haruka had, unfortunately, grown too fond of to get rid of.

His effervescent employee sure wormed his way into his heart, Haruka thought with a smile. He poured the last drops of water out of the mackerel’s mouth before setting it aside and going to set up his hose with the spray nozzle to water the larger plants he had on the sales floor.

It was still early in the summer, and as such, a lot of his perennials were beginning to bloom. The wide array of flowers he had on hand added such a rainbow of colors to his shop, brightening everything up with no effort whatsoever. But he still had some plants that hadn’t bloomed yet, that were still trying to grow their buds,like his imported phlox flowers from the United States.

Blue eyes stared at the buds, still mostly green but with small bursts of purple and violet poking through at the top. According to his research, they wouldn’t bloom for at least another month, but that was okay. He’d take the time to nurture them and help them grow; he had no doubt they’d be a huge hit when they did bloom, especially considering their natural habitat was overseas.

But, to be honest, the reason he’d sought them out in the first place was because they were the exact same flower as the soul mark he sported on his back.

More specifically, his soul mark was on the blade of his right shoulder. He’d only ever seen it in the mirror or in the occasional photo, and there was no color to it whatsoever—just the solid black outlines of a flower that begged to be colored in—so it took him a long time to figure out what kind of flower bud it was.

And the fact that it was still a bud, not a fully bloomed flower, meant that he still hadn’t met his soulmate. Which was fine by him, really. He wasn’t really concerned with finding that one person destined to be his other half; he had people in his life that he loved and trusted, and he had his shop. He didn’t really need more than that.

A firm knock on the front door yanked Haruka out of his peaceful musings, immediately filling him with confusion. It was too early for Nagisa to show up for his shift, and several hours until the shop would be open for business. So who…?

Haruka turned around to see a small delivery truck outside, with a tall man in a recognizable uniform waving to him with a smile from outside.

Ah, it made sense now. Though he usually didn’t get his deliveries this early…

Haruka turned off the hose and set it atop the water tank, drying his hands on his apron as he approached the door and turned his master key in the lock.

“Good morning!” the delivery man greeted as Haruka opened the door, his smile warm and bright. 

Haruka was almost blinded by the genuinely kind and friendly aura he exuded. The florist felt tingles all the way from the top of his head to the tips of his toes, though he had no idea why. He just kept staring at the—much taller—man before him, going slightly lightheaded and losing himself in crystal clear peridot eyes.

The man’s smile grew a bit uneasy at Haruka’s blatant staring and lack of response, and he tilted his head a bit. Olive brown fringe fell to cover his eyes somewhat, which Haruka found to be an absolute travesty. “Um…is there something wrong?”

Haruka felt like his face was on fire…or, more like he felt extremely flushed. Swallowing, he choked out the only thing he could think to say: “You’re not Sousuke.”

The man looked adorably confused for about two seconds before his smile returned in full, accompanied by a laugh that may as well have been music to Haruka’s ears. “Ah, Yamazaki-kun is driving the truck. I’m Tachibana Makoto. I’m new, you see, so he’s driving the route today and I’m taking care of the customer contact.”

“Oh,” Haruka said intelligently. “That…makes sense.”

Tachibana’s smile didn’t dissipate in the slightest as he held up his metal clipboard that contained a bunch of invoices in its grasp. “It says here I only have four boxes for you today…where would you like me to put them?”

Haruka held the door open wider, kicking the rubber door stopper with his foot until it wedged between the bottom of the door and the floor. “You can just set them here,” he said, motioning to an open spot between the front window and his bouquet coolers, “and I’ll break them down as I go.”

“Sure thing!” the newbie said, nodding his head before disappearing to his truck. Haruka heard the metallic clangs of the trailer lock, the thump of the ramp coming in contact with the asphalt. All the while he just stood in his shop like a stick in the dirt, trying to regain feeling in his limbs that still felt slightly numb and buzzing with some weird energy. He idly rubbed at his right shoulder, feeling it burn slightly under his touch.

Tachibana came in with two boxes piled on top of each other, balanced by a dolly. He was humming quietly as he worked, carefully sliding the boxes off the dolly before heading back to the truck for the remainder of the delivery. 

Haruka fished a box cutter out of his apron, slicing the tape on the first box in one swift motion. It contained some different soils he’d ordered, and he set to unpacking the bags and carted them over to the large storage cupboard at the back of the store. When he returned to cut into the second box, Tachibana had also returned with a carton of live plants—orchids, the shipping label on the side read. The fact that he was carrying such a heavy parcel with relative ease made Haruka unconsciously sneak a glance at the man’s arms. The sleeves of his collared uniform shirt were rolled up to the elbows, and besides the rock hard muscles in his forearms, Haruka also caught a glimpse of a flower bud peeking out from under Tachibana’s left sleeve. But it was quickly hidden again by the fabric, much too quickly for Haruka to discern what kind of flower bud it was.

So, Tachibana hadn’t met his soulmate yet either.

“Here, I’ll take that,” Haruka said, reaching his arms out for the box of orchids.

“Oh, no, I’ve got it!” Tachibana insisted with that ever-present smile. “Would you like me to set it elsewhere?” 

Haruka gave up the fight much quicker than he expected of himself, and pointed to the counter lining the back of the store where he typically put together arrangements. “Over there is fine.” 

Tachibana did as he was told, still humming a soft little tune as he made his way to the back of the store.

As much as Haruka wanted to watch the delivery man, feeling some kind of strange magnetic pull to him that he had a hard time fighting down, he instead wrenched his attention away and headed to the delivery truck outside. He saw his usual delivery guy, Sousuke, sitting in the driver’s seat tapping away on his phone. Sighing, Haruka impatiently rapped on the window with his knuckle to get Sousuke’s attention.

The dark-haired man rolled down the window and gave Haruka a friendly smirk. “Morning, Haru. What’s up?”

“Training the new guy by making him do all the work?” Haruka questioned, raising a brow.

Sousuke snickered and leaned back against the seat. “Relax, he’s doing fine on his own,” he assured his long-time customer and friend. “Besides, my shoulder’s been acting up today. Figured it’d be better if he did the heavy lifting, y’know?”

Haruka nodded in understanding, fixing Sousuke with a slightly more serious look. He knew Sousuke’s old swimming injury flared up on occasion, and those days were usually when Haruka would grab his own delivery boxes from the back of the truck. But now that Sousuke had someone helping him on his route, Haruka hoped that the man would give his shoulder a break.

“Um…Nanase-san, could you please sign this invoice?” Tachibana said from behind, and Haruka spun around to find him smiling sheepishly at him.

“That was fast,” Haruka remarked as he grabbed for the clipboard and pen being offered to him, causing Tachibana’s handsome face to flush an attractive pink. 

“Thanks?”

A small, unbidden smile made its way onto Haruka’s face as he scratched out a signature of sorts using only the kanji of his surname. He clicked the pen closed and set it atop the clipboard, handing it back to the still blushing Tachibana. “You can call me Haru, by the way.”

Tachibana blinked a couple times before seeming to realize he needed to take the clipboard back. “R-really? But we’ve only just met…”

Haruka shrugged. “If you’re going to be a regular on this route, we’re gonna get to know each other eventually. I’d rather just skip the formalities.”

If possible, Tachibana lit up with an even brighter smile than before. “Okay. Then you can call me Makoto.”

“Alright, you two, enough chit-chat. We have to get to our next stop,” Sousuke scolded from inside the truck, turning the key in the ignition until the vehicle whirred to life. “Rin says hi, by the way,” Sousuke said to Haruka, waving his phone which presumably had a text message conversation open with Rin—Sousuke’s boyfriend and Haruka’s best friend.

“Ah, sorry!” Makoto apologized, hurriedly tearing off Haruka’s copy of the invoice and handing it to him. “It was very nice to meet you, Haru. See you next time?”

Haruka nodded and hummed in the affirmative. “Yeah, see you again, Makoto.”

Makoto gave him a little wave as he dashed around the back of the truck, hurriedly locking up the trailer before hopping in the cab next to Sousuke. With a lazy salute from Sousuke and another brilliant smile from Makoto, the two drove off towards their next destination and left Haruka standing in front of his shop. His body still tingled.

* * *

Haruka was quietly changing out of his clothes into his swimsuit when Rin decided to show up, claiming the locker next to him.

“Impatient as always, I see,” the redhead commented teasingly, shrugging off his bag and jacket.

Haruka, on the other hand, had just pulled on his knee-length jammers and was now digging around his bag for his swim cap and goggles. He merely gave a hum in response, hearing what Rin said but not entirely processing the words, his mind elsewhere.

“Sousuke told me you met the new guy on his route,” Rin said, his voice muffled as he pulled his t-shirt over his head.

“Yeah,” Haruka affirmed distantly, folding up his work clothes and setting them neatly in his locker. He gently shut the door and stood idly by, waiting for Rin to change into his legskins. He didn’t offer up any more information, though just thinking about Makoto made butterflies flutter in Haruka’s stomach. He felt goosebumps all over his exposed skin, though it wasn’t cold in the locker room.

Rin threw his own clothes into his locker and grabbed his swim cap and goggles, wearing his goggles around his neck like a necklace. He flashed a sharp-toothed smile at Haruka and stood with his hand on his hip. Haruka could just barely make out Rin’s soul mark, peeking out of his legskins at his hip—the tips of a fully colored blue delphinium stalk. 

Haruka remembered seeing Rin’s soul mark for the first time, before he’d really found his affinity for caring for flowers. It was something his late grandmother had instilled in him from a young age, but it took a while for Haruka to truly appreciate what she had taught him. He eventually followed that path, and now had a successful flower shop of his own.

Part of that awakening of sorts had been thanks to Rin showing him his beautiful soul mark.

Rin nodded his head to the door leading to the pool hall. “Looks like you’ve got some feelings to swim out,” he said to his best friend and they walked side-by-side out of the locker room.

Haruka kept his gaze resolutely straight ahead. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he deflected, pursing his lips somewhat.

Rin barked out a laugh. “Haru…we’ve known each other since elementary school. I know you’re not as emotionally constipated as you used to be, but shit, you look like you’ve been in a daze since you got here.”

Haruka couldn’t contest that. However, he did narrow his eyes and give Rin a sidelong glance to his left. “Emotionally constipated?”

Though Rin rolled his eyes, he was still smiling. “You know what I mean.”

Haruka just hummed again, staring forward once more. He was usually pretty aware of his own emotions, able to accurately piece together what he was feeling about most anything after a little time to mull it over. Whatever weirdness he was feeling—whatever weirdness he  _ had been _ feeling since early that morning—he was sure the water would help him think it through.

Luckily, there were only a few other people in the pool hall at this time of the evening. Haruka allowed a small smile to grace his features. At least he and Rin would be mostly undisturbed in their swimming.

“You wanna race, or are you just gonna do laps?” Rin asked as they approached the edge of the pool, already doing some stretches to prepare for their exercise. Haruka followed suit, focusing on working out his arm muscles since his signature stroke was the front crawl.

“I think some laps,” Haruka said, shaking out his shoulders and stepping up onto the starting block.

“Uh…Haru?” Rin said hesitantly from behind him.

“Hm?” Haruka hummed, turning around to regard his best friend, who was looking at him with an incredulous look on his face.

“Your soul mark…” Rin said, slowly raising his hand and pointing at the blade of Haruka’s right shoulder. “Did you know it’s bloomed?”

Blue eyes widened and the shock of the question was almost enough to knock Haruka into the pool.

“Wh- _ what?” _

* * *

Haruka stood in front of the sink, back turned, head angled to try and get a glimpse of his soul mark. He felt those familiar tingles, the numbness from earlier spreading from his chest to every bit of his body. His limbs felt light and weightless like floating in water but heavier than a ship’s anchor at the same time. He could barely feel his fingertips poking and prodding at his shoulder as he twisted every which way to see it clearly in the mirror.

“Hey, Haru, here…” Rin said, stepping into the bathroom with his phone in hand— he’d gone to retrieve it from his locker before chasing directly after Haruka. “Lemme take a picture so you can see it better.”

Sucking in a deep breath, Haruka complied and turned his back to Rin. He vaguely registered the shutter snap as Rin captured the photo on his phone. The slightly taller man then handed his phone to Haruka, who took it in shaking hands and stared at his soul mark on the screen.

It was a fully bloomed phlox, but not even just one flower, which surprised Haruka enough to make his breath hitch. While the bud had only been singular, now emblazoned on his pale skin was a cluster of eight—maybe ten?—blossoms with five petals each, all rounded at the tips and flared out like an umbrella. None of them had any color whatsoever, only the black, almost inky outlines that gave the flowers their shape. 

The fact that it didn’t have any color yet meant that it was brand new…that it had only bloomed within the last day or so.

Haruka felt the room spin around him, shadows seeping into the edges of his vision.

“Whoa, hey! Haru!” Rin cried out as Haruka swayed on his feet. He stabilized his friend with his strong arms, guiding the raven-haired man back out to the locker room and lowering him to sit on the bench in front of their lockers. “You okay?”

Haruka hung his head between his knees, sucking in deep breaths and holding them for a few seconds before expelling them shakily. Rin’s phone hung limply in his hand, and he couldn’t muster the strength to even lift it up to hand back to him. It didn’t make sense…it didn’t make  _ sense. _ How could he have met his soulmate and not realize it? How could he have even met his soulmate if he was at work all day until now?

Unless…it was a customer? But no, all of the customers that visited his shop today were regulars…so it couldn’t have been any of them. What if it was just some random stranger on the train he took to get to the rec center? How would he be able to track them down, then?

“Haru, I think you should go home for tonight…you’re in no condition to swim, like this…” Rin said carefully, squatting down in front of his best friend. “I can have Sousuke bring the car ‘round so we can drive you home.”

Words caught in his throat, Haruka swallowed hard before nodding silently. He felt Rin take his phone from his loosened grip and watched as his friend’s bare feet slapped against the tiled floor as he stepped away to call Sousuke. Haruka blew out another shaky breath, his hands coming up to grab fistfuls of his hair. The pain of pulling on the strands helped keep him grounded a little, allowed him to focus and center himself until the lightheadedness abated somewhat.

He had never cared about meeting his soulmate, had never given it more than a passing thought for his whole life. Even watching the people around him meet their own soulmates and form unbreakable bonds with their destined persons, he never felt odd or left out because he hadn’t met his own. But now, when the moment actually came…it slipped through his fingers before he realized it. And it was too late.

* * *

“What’s got you so down, Haru-chan?” 

Haruka looked up from his inventory form, peering at his employee through his dark bangs. Nagisa was looking at him with wide, earnest magenta eyes that had no business looking as worried as they did. Nagisa was supposed to be endless smiles and boundless positivity, and it irked Haruka that he was the reason for the blond’s concerned countenance.

“It’s nothing,” he said, tapping his pen against the inventory sheet until the ink bled a puddle through the paper. He scowled and tore the sheet from the pack, dabbing up the wet ink with the already soiled paper and hoping it didn’t bleed all the way through the stack.

“Then why do you look so gloomy?” Nagisa pressed, nuzzling his head against his boss’s shoulder, and it was obvious he wasn’t going to leave Haruka alone until he got some kind of answer. That was just how Nagisa was.

His shoulder…

Haruka sighed and clicked his pen closed, leaning against the counter. “Here, look at this,” he said pulling the strap of his apron over his head and tugging at the collar of his oversized shirt. He exposed as much of his right shoulder as he could to Nagisa, turning slightly to give the shorter man a better look.

Nagisa peeked past the dark blue fabric and gasped at what he saw. “Haru-chan…your soul mark bloomed! That’s wonderful!”

Haruka tugged his shirt back up, but left the top half of his apron still hanging down. “It’s really not,” he said dejectedly, leaning further down on the counter until his forehead was touching the soil-dusted surface. “I don’t even know who my soulmate is…”

Haruka could feel the air shift around them with Nagisa’s sadness at his statement. “Oh, Haru-chan…”

The jingling of the bell above the door drew both of their attention, cutting their conversation short for the time being. Haruka looked up from the counter and couldn’t help but shudder at the unexpected relief he felt when he saw who had come into the shop.

“Good morning, Haru!” Makoto said, smiling his gentle smile and holding his hand up in a small wave as he made his way over toward Haruka and Nagisa.

“Makoto,” Haruka acknowledged with a short nod, stepping around the counter when the strap of his apron caught on the corner. Haruka tripped at the sudden halt, but a pair of strong arms caught him before he could properly fall.

“Are you alright?” Makoto asked, surprise still etched onto his kind face. 

Haruka hummed in response, noting the way his body was beginning to tingle again like a powerful electric current charged his blood and flowed through his veins as if they were wires.

What the hell…?

Makoto held onto him for a couple more seconds before almost jolting away as if he’d been stung. His bright green eyes met Haruka’s and they held each others’ gazes for what could have been seconds, minutes, hours, before Nagisa coughed none-too-subtly and gathered their attention.

“Haru-chan, who’s this?” the blond asked with excited curiosity, leaning up to get a good look at Makoto’s face. Makoto backed away just a tad, a sheepish grin on his face.

“This is Makoto; he’s the new delivery guy on Sousuke’s route,” Haruka explained, ducking his head to hide the blush he could feel heating his cheeks. He busied himself with fixing his apron to avoid any more…er, mishaps. Plus, as the owner of the shop, he had to look professional and presentable. A half-folded apron was neither of those things.

“Hello,” Makoto said, holding out his hand for Nagisa to shake. “Nice to meet you…er…?”

“I’m Nagisa!” the shorter man said brightly, taking Makoto’s hand in both of his smaller ones and shaking vigorously. “Very good to meet you, Mako-chan!”

Makoto’s smile eased into that same gentleness as before. “I’ve got a bigger delivery for you today, Haru,” he said, turning slightly to face Haruka again while Nagisa still had a grip on his hand. “Sorry we’re a little late. Another stop ran over time by a bit.”

“Not a problem,” Haruka said with a shake of his head. “Sousuke was usually later than this when it was just him, so don’t worry.”

“I heard that,” Sousuke said, his deep voice drowning out the sound of bell chime on the door. He was wheeling a dolly in backwards with several boxes stacked on top of the metal lip, all labeled “FRAGILE.”

“Oh, those must be the vases I ordered,” Haruka remarked, running over to clear a space by the coolers for Sousuke to set the boxes down. “Nagisa, could you put the door stopper down and help get the other boxes from the truck?”

“Sure thing!” Nagisa said, practically jumping up and down in that enthusiastic way of his. Once he shoved the rubber wedge beneath the door, he bounded outside to retrieve some more of their packages. 

“Sousuke, let me take that!” Makoto said, taking the dolly from his boss before there was a chance for Sousuke to protest. The brunette followed Nagisa’s example and hurried out to the truck.

Sousuke chuckled, rolling his shoulder. “They have way too much energy for this early in the morning.” His teal eyes then slid over to Haruka, darkening just a little with seriousness. “How are you doing after last night? You seemed…pretty shaken up, which isn’t like you.”

Haruka looked down at his shoes, curling his toes inside. He didn’t really want to have to explain himself, especially with a near-stranger in possible earshot. Besides, he knew Sousuke had at least heard the gist of it from Rin in the car ride to Haruka’s place last night—he’d heard them whispering about it in the front seat. But he also didn’t want to leave Sousuke hanging.

Instead, he changed topics somewhat. “How long did it take for your soul mark to start…gaining color? After you and Rin met?”

Sousuke paused to think, tucking his hands into his pockets. It was then that Haruka realized, he’d never actually seen Sousuke’s mark. He’d only seen Rin’s, mostly when they went swimming. But it’d been in full color for as long as he could remember.

“Well, I mean, we met in elementary school,” Sousuke said with a shrug. “And I know at least mine was in full color before he left for middle school in Australia, so…?”

“I…see…” Haruka muttered, scratching at the back of his neck. He could feel his shoulder tingling again.

“You didn’t have any color to yours last night, right?” Sousuke then asked.

Haruka shook his head. “No, it…it was still just the outline…”

“Can I see it?”

Haruka froze, his hand at his side clenching into a fist. “I…don’t see why not?” he choked out against his better judgment. “It’s here…on my right shoulder blade…” he said, tapping at his shoulder with the hand that was already at the back of his neck. He didn’t bother taking off his apron this time, just shrugging enough of his shirt off for Sousuke to see the phlox blossoms on his skin.

Sousuke came up beside him, tugging the shirt fabric away from Haruka’s shoulder enough to see the mark. “Uh, Haru, it’s…”

“What?” Haruka asked, alarmed at Sousuke’s hesitance. The other man was rarely like that.

“There’s already some color.”

_ "What?”  _ Haruka repeated, already feeling that strange numbing sensation that he’d felt last night.

Nagisa and Makoto were chattering away as they came back into the shop, Makoto with some more boxes on the dolly and Nagisa carrying a really tall box with aeration holes which meant that live plants were inside. They both froze at seeing Haruka’s ashen face.

“Haru-chan, what’s the matter?” Nagisa said, setting down his box right where he stood and ran over to his boss and friend. “Do you feel sick?”

Sick was an understatement. Haruka felt dizzy, like he was floating at the bottom of the pool and running out of air in his lungs, but his body was too heavy for him to swim to the surface. His stomach was doing flip-flops on itself and there was a deafening pounding in his ears that drowned out the concerned voices around him. Before he realized it, he was being picked up off the ground and carried in someone’s arms—where to, he had no idea. All he could do was stare up at the ceiling through hazy blue eyes, holding his breath so he didn’t puke. The tingling sensation grew much more intense, to the point where he felt needles all over his skin and his shoulder outright  _ burned _ as if someone had set it aflame.

When he came back to himself, he was lying on the small sofa in the break room at the back of the shop. Nagisa was standing above him, placing a cool, dampened washcloth to his forehead. Haruka’s palms felt sweaty and clammy, and he had a hard time curling his fingers into fists. They felt swollen.

“Haru-chan, do you want to close the shop for the day?” Nagisa asked. “You need to rest.”

Haruka barely managed a shake of his head. “N-no, I’ll be fine, just…go manage everything for a while until I can get up again….”

Nagisa nodded resolutely. “You got it, Haru-chan. Mako-chan, come help me with the rest of the boxes?”

Makoto looked up from where he stood at the end of the sofa. “Okay, sure, I can do that!”

But before he could move, Sousuke stepped in front of him with his hand out, blocking Makoto’s path. “I’ll help Nagisa, you stay here with Haru until we’re done.”

Hearing that made Haruka’s heart jump into his throat for some reason. He couldn’t figure out why.

“O-okay, if you’re sure, Sousuke…” Makoto said, to which Sousuke nodded.

“Water is in the little fridge over there if you need it,” Nagisa said, pointing to a mini-refrigerator in the corner of the small room. “We’ll hurry, okay?”

Makoto hummed with a nod, and the two of them left to go finish getting the delivery in order.

It was silent in the room, save for the sounds of Haruka’s slightly labored breathing. He was sweating up a storm, and he reached up with a shaky hand to press the cold cloth firmer against his forehead.

“Um…do you…want some water, Haru? You might be dehydrated…?” Makoto asked, and damn if Haruka didn’t somehow find that nervousness adorable.

“Sure, that might help,” Haruka rasped out, even though the thought of ingesting anything at the moment made his stomach churn. He listened to the faint sounds of Makoto shuffling over to the fridge, the opening and closing of the insulated door, the crunching of the plastic bottle in Makoto’s hand. A shadow descended over him, Makoto’s tall and broad frame blocking out the sunlight coming in from the windows. 

“Do you want to sit up? I can help you,” Makoto offered quietly.

Haruka nodded curtly, reaching his arms out towards the gentle giant above him. As soon as Makoto’s hand circled around his wrist, Haruka felt that electrified feeling as if he’d been shot with a taser. A pained noise came from the back of his throat, alarming Makoto enough for him to let go of Haru’s wrist immediately.

“S-sorry, I just…I’ll do it myself,” Haruka said through a wince, using whatever strength he could muster to pull himself to a sit against the arm of the sofa. When he pulled the cloth away from his face, he blinked his eyes open to see Makoto staring at him with those sunny green eyes. He was slowly flexing the fingers of his hand, forming a fist and relaxing over and over. “Are  _ you  _ alright?” Haruka asked, nodding to Makoto’s hand.

“Hm? Oh, yeah,” Makoto assured him with a sweet smile. “My hand just got all tingly for a minute…like it feels when it falls asleep?”

It took a second or two for the words to register, but once they did, Haruka could do nothing but stare wide-eyed at Makoto. 

So…he…Haruka wasn’t the only one who…

“Oh, here’s your water, Haru,” Makoto said belatedly, holding the bottle out to Haruka. 

“Thanks…” Haruka said, reaching for the bottle. Their fingers brushed for only a moment, but it was enough to make Haruka’s entire arm go numb. Makoto seemed to have a similar reaction if the squint of his eye and quiet hiss through his teeth were anything to go by.

“We’re done!” Nagisa’s voice could be heard before the man himself was seen. He came barreling into the break room with Sousuke leisurely strolling in behind him. "Oh, you're sitting up! Are you feeling any better, Haru-chan?"

"A little," Haruka said, fumbling with numbed fingers to open the cap of the water bottle. He started out with small, slow sips.

"Are you sure you're okay to stay at work?" Sousuke asked, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

Haruka nodded, which was a bad move because it just made him feel dizzy again. "I'm fine, just…don't mention this to Rin. He'll be all over me about it if he finds out."

Sousuke barked out a laugh. "You're not wrong about that." He then flicked his arm out to right the face of his wristwatch to check the time. "Well, if you're sure you're okay, Makoto and I have to make it to our next stop. We'll leave you in Nagisa's  _ expert _ care."

Nagisa stuck his tongue out at Sousuke. "You're so mean, Sou-chan."

Haruka almost smiled at his friends' antics. Almost. He looked at Makoto, who'd remained quiet since the intrusion and actually did smile softly at the man. "Thanks for keeping an eye on me."

Makoto flushed and offered Haruka a shy smile, scratching his cheek with his forefinger. "Ah, you're welcome. I didn't really do anything, though?"

"You made sure Haru-chan didn't fall off the couch and die," Nagisa amended, throwing his arm around Makoto's shoulder, which was a sight in itself considering their height difference. "That's more than enough, don't you think?"

"I-I guess…" Makoto said sheepishly.

"Nagisa, unhand my coworker before I throw you over my shoulder and toss you into the trailer with the rest of the packages," Sousuke said. Although his tone was deadpan, his threat was clear.

"What if we wanna keep Mako-chan here?" Nagisa asked, hanging off Makoto in some weird semblance of a hug. The taller man laughed, letting himself be jerked around by Nagisa with no complaints whatsoever. "Haru-chan likes him, right, Haru-chan?"

Haruka blinked, looking between Nagisa and Makoto a few times before settling his gaze on Makoto. He hummed in affirmation, taking another sip of water in hopes of hiding his blush behind the bottle.

Before anything else could be said, Sousuke manhandled Nagisa off of Makoto and began ushering his employee out the door before the little blond mayhem maker could get his hands on him again. "See you dorks tomorrow morning!" he said overly loudly, making his point.

"See you tomorrow Nagisa, Haru!" Makoto said with a laugh, raising his arm to wave. The rolled up sleeve of his uniform shirt fell down to his elbow, revealing a cluster of black outlined flowers with slight pastel pink coloring at the tips of the petals on his forearm.

Flowers that looked strangely like…

But by the time Haruka thought to say anything, Sousuke and Makoto were long gone.

* * *

Haruka sighed as he sank into the warm water, hunkering down until the water came up to right below his nose. The steam rising off the surface clouded around him, almost creating a bubble for him to exist in that separated him from the outside world. His bathtub wasn’t quite long enough for him to stretch out his legs completely, but even with them bent at the knee and his kneecaps poking out of the water, he could already feel his muscles relax. 

He definitely needed to relax after the last day and a half.

Much of that time was spent in utter confusion, trying to figure out how in the world his soul mark could have bloomed without him realizing that he’d made contact with his soulmate. Not only that, but he’d apparently spent enough time with his soulmate over the past  _ day _ for his mark to start  _ coloring _ already.

Then, when he’d gotten a glimpse of Makoto’s arm…well, that threw everything into extremely unfamiliar waters. And Haruka wasn’t used to being unfamiliar in  _ any  _ kind of water.

Haruka sank beneath the hot water, his eyes closed. He felt the small pushes and pulls of the water, every little movement he made created tides and ripples in the small, confined area of his element. It calmed him, helped him clear his thoughts.

When Haruka resurfaced, a decision had been made.

He needed to ask Makoto to show him his soul mark.

* * *

The next morning, when Haruka arrived at his shop at the very break of dawn, he was pleasantly surprised to see that some of his budded plants had bloomed.

Perhaps the most pleasant and surprising ones were the garden phlox flowers, their colors soft and muted but no less beautiful for it, and when the creeping rays of the sun refracted through the glass of the windows and onto the petals, the gentle pinks and pastel purples really came to life.

Haruka hoped that it was a good sign.

He went about his normal morning routine of watering all the plants, enjoying the peace and calmness of the dawn. The gentle sound of the streams of water flowing from the nozzle of his mackerel watering can brought him a sense of clarity. When he moved on to the hose for the larger plants, the gentle hum of the spray nozzle lulled him into a familiar calmness. He felt ready to face the moment that could possibly change the rest of his life. He was still nervous, butterflies fluttering around in his stomach and that familiar tingling feeling in his fingers, but he had to do this. He  _ had _ to.

When he heard the gentle knock on the glass door, Haruka turned to see Makoto and felt immediately at ease.

He turned off the hose and set it atop the tank, walking over to the door and unlocking it to let Makoto in. 

“Good morning, Haru,” Makoto said with his usual gentle smile, his head tilted slightly. “How are you feeling?”

“Much better,” Haruka said, offering Makoto a small smile of his own. 

“I’m so glad,” Makoto sighed happily. “You really had us worried yesterday.”

“Sorry about that…” Haruka said, averting his gaze. He felt a hand on his shoulder, then, giving it a gentle squeeze. And while the tingling and weird kind of numbing was still present, Haruka felt…warm. The kind of comforting warmth that came with cuddling in a blanket in the wintertime, or sinking into a hot bath at the end of a long day.

“Makoto…”

“Hm?”

“Can…” Haruka swallowed, looking up at Makoto’s face. Blue eyes met green and Haruka gained his courage. “Can I see your soul mark?”

A mixture of surprise and confusion crossed Makoto’s face. “My soul mark? Why?”

Haruka sucked in a breath. He removed the top of his apron and unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt. He shrugged the collared top off his right shoulder, enough to where his own soul mark was visible, and turned just enough for Makoto to see it.

“Because I need to see if it matches mine.”

He heard Makoto gasp, but what that sharp intake of breath meant, Haruka wasn’t sure. 

Until Makoto held his arm out for Haruka to see, and Haruka blew out a breath that had been stuck in his lungs for what felt like an eternity.

Staring up at him from a tanned forearm was a fully bloomed bunch of phlox flowers, with soft pastels fading in from the centers of the blooms.

“I had a feeling…” Makoto said through a small laugh, though his laugh sounded a little watery around the edges. “When I got back in the truck, that first day…I noticed my mark had bloomed…and every time I saw you, I just felt…I don’t know…warm? Tingly? I can’t really describe it…”

Haruka turned back around to face Makoto, his shirt still hanging off his shoulder. There were a couple tears gathered in the corners of Makoto’s gorgeous green eyes, and Haruka was surprised to discover that he had a very similar affliction currently. He blinked his own tears away and hesitantly reached his hand up to cup Makoto’s cheek, his thumb just barely caressing the skin beneath Makoto’s eye. 

“I felt the same…” Haruka admitted, then let out a breath of a laugh. “Though, I guess it definitely took more of a physical toll on me than it did on you.”

“It sure did,” Makoto laughed quietly, bringing his own hand up to hold Haruka’s hand against his face. 

And there it was again…the tingling feeling. Though instead of coming in as a shock to the system, instead of making him feel sick and numb, it made Haruka’s blood sing, made his spirit flutter, made his heart slow down to a tempo that was nothing but comfort and peace.

Why hadn’t he cared before about meeting his soulmate? If he knew it’d feel like this…

Well. That didn’t really matter now, did it?

Makoto leaned forward, touching his forehead to Haruka’s. Against his will, Haruka’s eyes slid shut.

"So...now what?" Haruka whispered.

Makoto sighed a laugh, and Haruka felt his warm breath against his face. It smelled minty, like he had brushed his teeth recently. "I'm...not really sure…" Makoto said hesitantly. "But...I suppose we'll figure it out, right?"

Haruka smiled, leaning his head on Makoto's shoulder. "Yeah...I suppose we will."

* * *

Haruka had never learned much about  _ hanakotoba _ , aside from what his grandmother had taught him before she passed away. As a florist, he didn't have much use for it. All that mattered to him was how certain flowers and fillers looked together in arrangements, not so much the meanings behind them. 

But since he'd met Makoto, his curiosity had been piqued. He hadn't thought about it before, but...what if soul marks had some kind of meaning? And that meaning was relevant to the two soulmates who shared their mark?

When he discovered what phlox meant—harmony, united souls—he knew there was no way it was just coincidence.

So Haruka started looking into other flowers and their meanings, learning more about this hidden language embedded in nature. Once he was versed enough in certain plants and blooms, he began creating a subset of products based around  _ hanakotoba _ . Just little mason jar arrangements, boutonnieres, corsages, other smaller things of such nature that had just that little extra meaning to them for customers who were looking for that sort of thing.

He'd also taken a liking to making flower crowns, which was what he was currently working on. He had blooms of both light pastels and deep, vibrant purples on the worktable in front of him. Various tools were scattered about, as well as wiring and floral tape to hold things together. He also had some filler flowers to go along with the main flower of the crown—things like baby's breath that would nicely accent the petunias he was working with for this particular crown. It was for Makoto.

"Haru?" a voice said, following the jingles of the bells above the front door of the shop.

Haruka looked up from his worktable, a small smile automatically in place on his lips as soon as he saw Makoto standing at the shop front. "You're early…" he commented, tilting his head slightly. "You're  _ never _ early."

Makoto laughed at that as he made his way toward his soulmate, dropping onto the stool next to Haruka. "What are you working on?"

Haruka's gaze turned back to the mess of flowers and leaves and stems on the table, where a full circlet of petunias sat amongst the wreckage. "Flower crown," he said, picking up his craft and tweaking some of the blooms so they sat correctly. 

"It's beautiful," Makoto said, nudging Haruka's shoulder with his own. The shoulder with his soul mark, now in full color beneath his shirt.

"It's for you," Haruka said, reaching up with both hands and gently settling the crown atop Makoto's olive brown hair. He was right, the purple did look good on him.

A smile that was more precious than any other lit up Makoto's face and his cheeks flushed a pretty pink. Haruka had a hard time keeping his heart from thundering in his chest at the gorgeous sight. "Thank you, Haru, I love it." Makoto reached up and gently ran his forefinger over one of the vivid violet petals. "What kind of flowers are these?"

"Petunias," Haruka answered, fixing the crown so that it sat just slightly angled on Makoto's head, making him look even more adorable than before. "They mean gentleness, or 'your presence soothes me.'"

Makoto ducked his head and hid his bashful expression behind his large, gentle hands. Haruka wanted nothing more to pull Makoto's hands away from his face and nuzzle their noses together.

"You'd better make one for yourself, then, to match," Makoto said, allowing Haruka to take his hands. "Because that's exactly how you make me feel."

Haruka fought down his own blush and swallowed the lump in his throat. "...Maybe tomorrow," he acquiesced, touching his nose to Makoto's.

Makoto nuzzled his nose against Haruka's. "You ready to close up shop?"

"Yeah, it's just about time, isn't it?" Haruka said, reluctantly pulling away from Makoto and getting up from his stool. He still had quite the mess leftover from his little project, and normally he made sure everything was spic and span before he left the shop for the night. But he and Makoto had planned a date of sorts and he didn't want to hold that up. 

He and Nagisa would just have to do extra cleaning in the morning. 

Haruka took off his apron and hung it on the hook by his arrangement counter, then moved to wash his hands of all the dirt and pollen. In the meantime, he heard Makoto pulling the metal gates across the front windows closed.

As soon as the lock on the front door was clicked shut, Haruka pocketed his keys and immediately slid his hand into Makoto's and intertwined their fingers. They walked down the sidewalk at a leisurely pace, nudging each other's shoulders now and then, squeezing each other's hands in reassurance of the other's presence. 

Makoto's crown of petunias stayed on his head for the rest of the night.


End file.
